CONTENDERS
Catholic Memorial, Fort Atkinson, Kettle Moraine, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Waukesha West
(discuss Kettle Moraine's run to state)
2009 RANDOM NOTES
- Catholic Memorial Senior Chad Bonis, junior libero Dan Caspar, sophomore outside Trevor Novotny, sophomore Ryan Taugher, senior Sam Spence, sophomore Casey Townsend and (more to come)
- Fort Atkinson New coach Mike Ziegler will likely look to returning outside Anthony Galson for offense. If the Blackhawks are going to succeed, the key will be replacing two graduation losses in setter Joe Athas and 2008 first-team Big Eight all-conference middle Jason Bohn.
- Kettle Moraine All-state honoree Ean Reid graduated, along with his 164 kills, but he was the only senior on last year's state-qualifying team. Returnees include last year's co-captain, senior outside Jonathan Tuttle, as well as senior setter Jim Mayenschein (324 assists in 2008), senior libero Mitch Rupp, junior middle Greg Duma, junior opposite Connor Keating and several others.
- Madison East Second-year coach Tyler Cleveland returns four of six starters from last year's team, including junior libero Brad Fraser, the only sophomore last season to garner Big Eight all-conference honors in 2008. The Purgolders will likely fill their middle position with senior Steve Horn, who was fifth in the Big Eight in blocks last season. Junior outsides Joey Topping and Garrett Lytle, junior setter Joe Toman and sophomore right side Nick Herbig will likely round out the lineup for East. An early test will be at the September 13th Neenah Invite.
- Madison La Follette With the exception of their libero, the Lancers bring back every single starter from last season's team, including first-team Big Eight all-conference outside Steve Amend. Other notable returnees include senior outside Jon Dybevik, senior setter Jake Amend, senior middle Lucas Dubois and senior middle Jaren Singh. With all that experience, veteran coach Pat O'Leary could have a fantastic season.
- Waukesha West The Wolverines return six of seven starters on a team that was ranked consistently in the top 10. They'll look to senior libero Dan Simon and senior middle Ryan Solberg for leadership (both were honorable mention all-state and first team all-conference in 2008). Senior setter Danny Jonas will also be able to dish out assists to sophomore outside Alex Jelacic and senior outside Stephen Waclawski. Senior Dan Warner will likely hold down the other middle position and senior Jake Schaefer should get plenty of swings at opposite. An early test will be at the Racine Invite on September 12.
OUR PREDICTION
(to come)
